Just A Reminder

“And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.” (Zep 1:6 AV)

 

The passage referenced is found in a context too lengthy to long to paste here.  Zephaniah is a prophet to the disobedient of Judah.  They are warned that God will deal with them for all their impertinence if they do not repent and turn back to the LORD.  In the verse above, we see a specific failure of those who dwell there.  A failure of which the vast majority of mankind is guilty.  The second phrase is the one we need to seriously consider this LORD’s day.  Those that have not sought to LORD, nor even bothered to enquire as to the truth of the LORD and salvation that can be found only in Him.  Whether we can tolerate the truth or not, the fact of the matter is, a vast majority of people we meet will spend an eternity tortured for their rejection of Jesus Christ as their substitutionary offering for sin.  Our reaction is usually one of two.  We either do not care, or we assume the majority are not lost.  Either is wrong.

We have a church member who is a corrections officer in a nearby institution.  He is a very friendly and personable individual who regularly converses with the inmates.  One wonders how that goes with those who are on death row.  I can imagine one who holds back emotionally deep relationships with someone who the guard knows is marked for death.  To safeguard deep hurt, the guard might keep back more intimate conversations so that when they do pass, hurt isn’t so deep.  Or, how about those who treat the terminally ill.  A doctor or nurse who must see and treat a patient they know is not going to beat the disease.  There might be an emotional disconnect to keep from suffering too much trauma at the passing of someone to whom they grew close.  As a Chaplain, that was certainly a consideration.  Compassion and attachment need not be mutually dependent.  One can show compassion without vesting too much into the person of the afflicted so when they pass, the survivor can go on.

The vast majority of mankind is marked for eternal death.  They have no idea the fate that awaits them.  In our door-to-door escapes, we encounter all sorts of people.  But they all have one thing in common.  They are lost.  Further, they do not know they are lost.  They march along life thinking all is fine and dandy without any real knowledge their eternal soul is in peril.  Some of us saints do not want to entertain the reality of God’s justice.  But He is just!  He must judge!  Those who will not even enquire for, or after, Him, must stand before the King of Kings.  They must look upon His face with the scars of the thorn of crowns upon his brow.  They must behold the nail-pierced hands that bled for them and give a sound reason why they rejected such mercy and grace.  He must judge!  We can never forget that.  There are countless lost souls all around us who, if confronted, will at least be informed of the judgment to come.  We may not like this task, but it must be done.  We may not enjoy thinking of a God who will send the multitude to eternal torment.  But it will be done.  The question is, how much does it bother?  How much will the reality of God’s justice motivate us to share the good news of mercy?